The night was longer than ever for Eunji. She couldn’t tame the chaos in her brain no matter what she did.

Even the cans of beer she emptied did nothing but highlight the enchanting voice from her memory, the one feeding her sweet love words and taking her up to the ninth cloud, the same that started spitting venom at some point and throwing her in the bottom of a pitch black well.

New blur memories surfaced, bringing new realizations with them.

‘D-does it open?’ a hesitant voice, her voice, asked, sounding too distant. The memory, she could guess, was related to the source of her necklace.



‘Of course it does. If not, what’s the use of this key?’ a sweet, warm, manly voice answered. But it was more distant, making it impossible for her to identify it. She still found it awfully familiar. ‘And for your information, these were specially made for us, so there’s no way to open the locket other than using this key. In other words, your heart is all mine.’


And then, the sweet moment was replaced by Grey skies and harsh blowing wind.

‘Don't you see how toxic our relationship is? Since I met you, nothing went right for me. A misery after misery, I barely had a peaceful day. I'm really tired of all of this. I want my life to go back to how it was before you. I want to be happy again.’

Eunji could still sense the lie within the voice, but more, she could still sense her heart shattering to pieces and she knew that she was familiar with the feeling. But she still had no clue about the other part. Who was that person? And where was he?

It was the fear and the never ending ‘what ifs’ that made it impossible for her to remember. 


‘Don’t you dare hurt Sunggyu, or you’re going to regret it so much. I’m telling you this for your own sake so you better keep this in mind.’


‘Don’t you want to know how you got rid of your analgesia? it’s an interesting story, but I don’t think I should be the one telling you about it.’


What did Dongwoo mean by that? What kind of hidden meaning was behind his words? 


She felt like everything was connected, but she couldn’t find the key link. It made her frustrated, being that close to the truth yet so far.


‘If I want answers, I need to ask. I don’t care anymore what the outcome will be. I need to face him.’ with that determination, Eunji left the apartment at an early hour in the morning.


She didn’t care it wasn’t a good time or timing, she was going to end what she started the night before. The opening had already taken place, now it was time for the main confrontation. 



Slowly but confidently, Eunji walked out of the elevator and stood in front of the penthouse’s door. She raised her hand to meet the bell, but she noticed that the door was slightly open. 
Hesitantly, the young woman walked in. the apartment was as she left it the night before. It was quiet, too quiet. She tried calling for Sunggyu, but with every unanswered call, uneasiness grew in the pit of her stomach.

It was too early for someone to be working, even for Sunggyu. That’s why she decided to check his bedroom rather than the studio. If she was in her right mind, she’d never dare do so, but Eunji was on the verge of going crazy.



Out of courtesy, Eunji knocked few times, but the quiet remained unchanged and for some reason the worry doubled within her.
Running out of choices and patience, she decided to enter the room.


“I swear if he he didn’t answer my calls because he’s just sleeping I-” Eunji’s mumbling was cut short at the sight she had to face.


Sunggyu was sleeping, that was true. But he was sleeping in a pool of blood on the floor. His own blood.
 

Eunji’s first reaction was to take a step back, body and mind going through a total blackout. Fortunately that only lasted for seconds, before she could collect her thoughts and finally get closer to the body. 

Sunggyu was curled in a ball like a little kid, his arms slightly expanded, making it easy for her to see the fresh raw cuts. They were all little and not too wide, but a certain one stood out, looking wider and deeper than the others, obviously the source of most of the blood. 


“S-sunggyu! Sunggyu! Can you hear me?!” she tried shaking him but in vain. 

 

With trembling hands and a broken voice, Eunji managed to call for help, she then resumed her attempts at waking him up. 

Maybe it was only her imagination, or maybe it was her eyes, or maybe it actually happened, but Sunggyu’s eyes opened slightly for a few seconds, a ghost of a smile on his lips as he had let his hand find hers. The smile itself was like a stab to her heart.


Even though he looked like a corpse and was barely breathing, warmness was still overflowing from his eyes, making her feel ten folds worse.

Then, his eyes closed again, his smile fading and his hand slipping out of hers. That’s when Eunji sensed the cold metal against her palm. 

It was a necklace, covered in blood. 

No, it wasn’t just a necklace. It was the last piece of puzzle. It was what Eunji had been desperately searching for. It was the last connection she needed. 


And Sunggyu had it.


But Eunji didn’t care anymore. Didn’t care what the signs said or what everything meant. Her hunt for the truth was long forgotten after seeing Sunggyu in that state. All she wanted at that moment was for him to survive. She didn’t care about what happened or will happen from now on. Her main priority was to save him.



“Hang on there a little bit longer, please.” she found herself desperatly begging, holding his hand like her life depends on it.



Fortunately, the paramedics came before she could lose her mind, saving her from all the torture that was witnessing Sunggyu hanging between death and life. 
During the whole ride to the hospital and until they had to take him away, Eunji didn’t find the power in her to let go of his hand. It felt that if she did so, she’ll never see him again and the thought itself was surprisingly so scary.






Almost a half an hour had passed when Dongwoo had showed up. To say that the call from the hospital was completely unexpected would be a lie. But what was a complete surprise was the disoriented Eunji waiting in the hallway. She had some blood on her clothes but her hands were completely covered in red. 


The shock was evident on her face and her steps were unsteady as she walked back and forth in the hallway. 
It needed him a few calls to bring her back to reality and as soon as she noticed his presence, her features relaxed a little, even though the change was almost undetectable.

Instead of asking about Sunggyu or what happened he found himself saying “Are you okay?” but all that came out of the girl’s mouth was a series of blabber and stutter.




“I- I don’t know wh-at happe-ned… I ju-st… Sung-… he was… t-there was a lot of b- blood and… and I-… I-…”




Dongwoo rested his hand on her shoulder to calm her down.




“It’s okay. He’ll be fine. don’t worry. He’s survived worst.” he tried to comfort her but for some reason her eyes widened in dread.



“Worst?” she repeated with a small voice, the word making her feel more scared.    


She didn’t have to think about it for longer as the doctor finally came out of the emergency room.



“Dongwoo-ssi, you came.” 


The said guy nodded. “How’s he?”



“He lost a lot of blood this time. We were a second away from late. But we managed to stabilize him for now and we’ll wait till he wakes up.”



Dongwoo sighed in both relief and worry. Relieved that his brother was no longer in danger but also worried about what will happen in the future. He could easily guess what made Sunggyu worse.



“Dongwoo!” Woohyun run to his cousin, panting hardly. “What did the doctor say?”



“Good for now.” 

His cousin’s features relaxed a little as well before asking “Who found him?” 




“Eunji di-” Dongwoo pointed to his side but the said girl was nowhere to be seen. “She was here seconds ago.” he frowned, his voice trailing in the empty corridor.  












-











Eunji was a mess, both physically and mentally. The doctor had clearly said that Sunggyu was going to be fine, so why was she not able to calm down yet? Why was she that worked up in the first place? 



Sure what she had gone through was shocking and it was only normal for her to be scared, but not to that extent. It wasn’t normal to feel that much worry for someone you consider an enemy. It was in the human nature, hatred was a powerful sensation after all. 


So why, why did she feel like the ground had crumbled under her feet as soon as she laid her eyes on a bleeding Sunggyu? What was that suffocating pain in her chest that didn’t leave her since that moment? And why was it so familiar? Why was she so desperate for him to wake up and why did it feel so right to hold his hand and so wrong to let go? Why was she so scared of losing him while just the night before she was wishing to never see him again?

The answer was still in her hand, burning against her skin. But she couldn’t bring herself to look at it again. The fear of the truth was still there. But it was different, a new kind of fear, a worse kind of fear than the one she used to feel. 


It was the fear of regret.




‘He’s survived worst.’ 




Those words kept ringing continuously in Eunji’s mind with a certain scene following them. It was one of her worst nightmares. There was a lot of blood and screeching screams involved that made her nauseous. No, she was sure it wasn’t a nightmare anymore. 


The blood on her hands had long dried but that was the last thing on her mind at the moment.



Her fingertips traced the outline of the key slowly before she decided that it was time to see the insides of the heart locket.



Two turns of the key and two clicks sound were what needed for memories to come crashing at her, for Eunji to finally open her eyes to the truth and maybe accept it because Sunggyu was the answer to all of her questions, the oldest and the newest and she was tired of denying it anymore.




It wasn’t like how she had expect it, at all. The memories that she had refused to regain were the most beautiful ones. They held, with no doubt, the best moments in her life, where she had felt happy, loved and secure the most. They were too precious, endearing and heartwarming. 




And for the first time in four years, Eunji completely erased the feeling that her past was worth forgetting, because Sunggyu was there. 




And he probably won’t be in it in the future.




Eunji tried to focus more on hitting her head continuously on the wall by her side instead of the pain in her chest or the flood of tears that was coming out of her eyes. 



A hand came between the wall and her head to stop her continuous action and to save her from her storm of thoughts.




“I knew I’d find you here.” Woohyun sat next to her on the stairs and started cleaning all the blood off her hands with a wet wipe. 




“You don’t need to beat yourself for it. He’s fine so don’t worry.” he added.




“But it’s all my fault.” her words made him stop his action for a second, he couldn’t deny that but he couldn’t agree with it either.




“It’s no one’s fault. Some things are just deemed to happen. So don’t blame yourself.” he answered, not lifting his eyes.




“Can I ask you a question then?”




“Go ahead.” 



“Why did none of you tell me about what was between Sunggyu and I?”



This time, Woohyun had to look at her in the eyes. He didn’t expect her to remember yet, let alone accept it and talk about it about it. 



“It’s not something that casual to speak about it, considering how hyper sensitive you were towards Sunggyu.”



Eunji half-heartedly scoffed. “You mean how much I hated him, blamed him for everything and poured all my anger on him?” 




“Anyone in your position would’ve acted the same. You went through a lot after all so it was only natural for you to react in that way.” he tried to ease her sense of guilt again, but it seemed impossible as she buried her face in her hands.



After a good ten minutes, Eunji finally spoke up.




“Dongwoo told me that he went through worse. What did he mean by that?” 




Woohyun sighed heavily, still contemplating which parts he had to tell her. He decided to spill everything, starting with the day she got shot and the rooftop incident.




“… That day after we sent you to the states, he had his second suicide attempt. We were really confused of the reason, especially when he refused to talk to any one about it. It was after his third attempt that Dongwoo almost lost it and made him start therapy. Depression and PTSD were expected after all he’s been through, but hallucination and memory distrust disorder were the cherry on top.

“His mind became really messed up to the extent that at times he couldn’t tell reality from illusion, present from past. Everything got mixed and some parts sometimes just disappear, making him feel lost. The scariest thing was that it always took him back to the time he still thought you were dead, and, you can imagine the rest.” he finished with a heavier sigh.


Eunji blinked the sting in her eyes away and swallowed the lump in  so she could ask him. “How many times did he try to-” 



“Suicide? A lot of times actually. We needed to check on him every hour or less to make sure he wasn’t doing anything stupid. But that was only for the first year, when he was still new to everything and couldn’t deal with his mind’s tricks, suicide attempts were reduced to self-harm though. This Sunggyu is the most stable one.”




“But I made him a mess. AGAIN.” 


“You knew nothing about his condition.”


“What about singing? Why doesn’t he sing anymore?” Eunji ignored his attempt at easing her feeling of self-blame by posing another question.


“It was during his graduation ceremony. He had produced a song to perform it but somewhere in the middle he had a panic attack. Sunggyu doesn’t talk about it but Dr Choi said that he must’ve remembered something that made him fear singing that much. It took us a lot of convincing to make him go to college afterwards and a lot more to make him get in Woollim Ent. Everyone is still waiting for the day he’ll be able to sing again and hopefully reveal his identity to the public.” 



By the time Woohyun finished speaking, Eunji was silently crying, hugging her legs to her chest.




“I- I had totally ruined the only guy that had ever loved me.” she mumbled against the fabric of her pants.  





“But you’re the only one who can fix him. you’re the one who has his heart.” he said, placing his hand on her shoulder as a last act of comfort before leaving.












-














The day went on slowly, Sunggyu nowhere near waking up or showing any sign to do so, while Eunji stayed in the corridor of the VIP section, sitting on a chair and blankly staring at nothing. Everyone was extra worried for both of them. 



“If you want to see him then go, don’t stay here uselessly beating yourself for it.” Bora had finally said after hours of sitting next to an unresponsive Eunji. The latter stiffened and gripped harder on the necklace in her palm until she felt the key’s edges scratching her skin.


“This is when he needs you by his side the most.” Bora added before leaving.




It seemed that Eunji had finally given up to her inner self and forced herself to Sunggyu’s room. Fortunately, no one was inside and a seat by his side was waiting for her.
She was hesitant and afraid, even ashamed of herself so she spent almost an hour just sitting with her head hanging low, not bringing herself to look at him. But when she was overwhelmed with memories she couldn’t help but lift her eyes to meet his peacefully sleeping face. 



The sight made the lump in  double in size and the tears well in her eyes for the umpteenth time that day. It was painful to watch, because that was Sunggyu, and he was there because of her.




“I’m sorry…. I’m so sorry...” Eunji kept repeating as she hug his hand to her chest and rested her forehead against his shoulder, her tears soaking his hospital gown.


How she wished he could open his eyes and look at her with that endearing gaze, as if she was the most beautiful person ever , like he used to do. How she wished he would call her name with his soft voice like it was his favorite word. How she wished he could hug her closer until she felt like she couldn’t breath but know that there was no place as safe as there. 



But it was all wishing and Sunggyu could never wake up again. Sunggyu could never open his eyes again, speak again or move again. And that thought was more than enough to make her begs and apologies louder and her hold on him tighter.





It was way past sunset when a hand shook Eunji from her position. Her tears had dried and she was sure she had cried enough for a year ahead. A red-eyed Sungyeol was looking at her in concern.


“You can’t stay here the whole day and night. Let’s go eat something.”  


Eunji couldn’t even find the energy to talk, so she just shook her head.


“I can’t you let do this to yourself. Just come with me and we’ll be back before he even wake up. Come on.” 


Without waiting for a reply, he dragged Eunji out of there.








-










Dongwoo watched as Sungyeol pushed a reluctant Eunji to the elevator, probably taking her to the cafeteria where the rest were. He hoped they could get her to eat something. She was more tired and weaker than all of them. 


“Mr Jang.” 


The call of his name startled him as he looked at the source of the voice. It was Sunggyu’s doctor.


“Can you come with me to my office, I need to talk to you.” 


The man had a hard and serious expression, so Dongwoo knew the kind of talk they were going to have. He nodded and followed him. 
 





-












It was all too dark, all too familiar for him. His body felt numb, his heart felt numb and he liked it. There’s was no pain and he didn’t want to wake up.

But there was a series of soft sobs and apologies that kept disturbing his sleep, alongside with an overwhelming warmth against his left side. And for the sake of that warm hold, he wanted to fight the darkness and wake up. 



It was hard at first, but the more he recognized the voice, the more the need to wake up doubled inside of him. 
The easiest part of his body to control was always his eyelids. But even that needed a lot of work. They were too heavy and the warmth disappeared before they could let any light pass through them. 

Sunggyu didn’t need to overwork his brain to know were he was, even if he was barely seeing anything other that the ceiling. He tilted his head to his previously warm right side, but all he could make was a silhouette leaving the room. 

He had always hated staying in bed after waking up, so he closed his eyes and lifted his heavy upper body. Once sitting, he reopened his eyes and reached for the pole holding the IV drip. It took him a few tries to finally stand up and fewer to start walking.

When he finally was in the hallway, he saw his doctor and Dongwoo walking away,  taking a turn left. He guessed that they were heading to the doctor’s office so he weakly followed them, using the pole as a support.


As soon as he neared his destination, he was greeted with a furious question coming from Dr Park. 



‘What is he doing here?’




“Are you really still insisting on not signing those papers?” 



That question. How he hated how they’re always asking Dongwoo the same question over and over again. He hated waiting for the answer as well, even though he trusted his brother.




‘Dongwoo will never betray me.’ he thought confidently.




But his brother’s usually ‘Yes, I am.’ was delayed this time. He hesitated a lot before answering, as if he was going to change his mind. 



And Sunggyu was scared.


“That’s not something I can decide by myself.” Dongwoo finally replied and Sunggyu almost sighed in relief. 


“Dongwoo-ssi, had you given a proper look to your brother lately?” Dr Park asked in irritation. “He’s got a ritual of covering his body in scars. Self-harm is just one of his many disorders. It can go wrong at any second, just like last night. Admit it, he’s getting worse and your ways of curing him had failed millions of times. It’s time to accept the fact that he need us more than he needs you. We know how to help him in a professional way.”



The relief was short lived as Dongwoo stayed completely silent. Sunggyu was glad he couldn’t see his expression at the moment. He wasn’t sure he could handle if it was one of confusion or uncertainty, which it actually was.
 


“Mr Jang, Sunggyu is in a really bad shape. Malnutrition, exhaustion, severe anemia and his mental state all together are lethal. We can’t ignore it anymore. He’s super lucky he didn’t have an arrest this morning. As Dr Park had said, it’s getting better, his reports says so too.” the man spoke in a softer tone.


Without leaving a chance for a reply, Dr Park interfered again.



“We understand that you want to care for him by yourselves. But you all are busy successful people. You can’t keep an eye for him twenty four seven. You have your personal lives to take care of. You really did more than enough, let us take it from here.” 



A minute passed, than another, and another but no response came from Dongwoo. 
Sunggyu couldn’t take it anymore, waiting killing him slowly. He didn’t need to hear it anymore, the eldest decision was already obvious.


‘Dongwoo had given up on me.’ 







-








Sunggyu slipped in the room, walking lifelessly. Millions of thoughts were playing on his mind, but a certain presence in the room was enough to make his mind go blank.

His mother.


She was standing by the window, obviously waiting for him. All signs of her stay in the asylum were replaced by her usually expensive attires. She was back to herself four years ago. 




“W-what are you doing here?” 
 



“Is this how you welcome your mother after all this year?” she asked in an irritated tone.



Although she was at least four meters away from him, as soon as she took a step forward, Sunggyu would take a step back. Fortunately, she just stood by the bed.


“Can’t you see that I became a better mom. As soon as I heard that you were hurt, I came to check on you. Look, I even brought you a get-well-soon gift.” she dropped a wrapped box with a big ribbon on his bed. 

“But I had to admit, I was disappointed in you. All these years, coming to me like you own the world while in fact you’re just...” she left her words trail as she gave his body a judging look. “So pitiful. You really are a burden to everyone now, aren’t you?” she gave him her trademark smirk. “I’ll just leave you to your pitiful self. Not even worth my time anymore.” 


Even when she walked past him, Sunggyu was enable to move a finger. His breath was stuck in his throat and refused to circulate as usual. Only when he was sure that she was far away he let himself resume breathing. 

He glared at the box on his bed for a good minute before he decided to open it.
Even if it looked like any ordinary gift from the outside, Sunggyu knew it was something that matched his mother’s wicked personality.


And he was right.



The first thing that welcomed him was a picture of him and Eunji. He just looked at it dearly like he did the night before, ignoring the blotches of dried blood that were covering it. 

Under the picture, there was a beautiful card with a ‘use it well’ written on it.


It was the real gift that gave him goose humps and made him throw the box away as if it was on fire.
Or maybe he had thrown it because it was something he wanted to use well.









  
-









“But I don’t think professional help is what he needs.” Dongwoo spoke back confidently. 



Their words always made him waver, but he will never give in to them. If it was up to Mr Jung, he would have signed those papers years ago, he had given up on Sunggyu after just a year. For him, it was different. He believed in his brother, and he had made a promise that he will never break.





Three years ago



Dongwoo was having a mental breakdown. His brother was missing for the past few hours and no one knew where he was. So with his phone pressed against his ear, he was calling his friends, getting updates from them about their search, while his legs took him to possible places where he could find the boy.


His youngest brother, that’s what the boy was. It was hard to accept that fact at first though. It had made him unconsciously, or willingly, grow further from him even though he knew that the youngest had been very sensitive then. 

Dongwoo hadn’t realize the consequence of his behavior a year ago until he had found Sunggyu in the bathroom, bleeding to death. 

The youngest had refused to talk to anyone about what happened but he had pushed him away more than the others, a sign that he didn’t trust him anymore. And guilt was eating him alive. He was at fault and he deserved that kind of treatment, but he was worried about Sunggyu.




It was after his third suicide attempt and many panic attacks that he accepted the help Dr Park had offered and opened up about his feelings. 



“Other than depression, he has memory distrust disorder. These are the main reasons behind his suicide attempts.” Dr Park had announced after a few sessions with Sunggyu.



It was like a blow to the guts for him. No one knew when Sunggyu’s mind could click and trick him. No one knew what to do or how to deal with Sunggyu. But the latter was the one who had it the worst. 


After hearing about his condition, he lost the little self-confidence he had left. Dongwoo had never seen him that lost. The worst part was that he didn’t know, no one knew, how to protect Sunggyu from himself.


A year passed and no improvement was in the sight.  So when the proposal of admitting the youngest in a rehab was made, Dongwoo was going to accept it, thinking that was the right decision to make, especially since Mr Jung insisted on it too. In all aspects, it was better than just helplessly watching Sunggyu walk slowly to death. 

What he didn’t expect was the youngest reaction. 

Sunggyu disappeared right after Dongwoo had broke the new to him. Hours of searching and no one was able to find him. Despair filled Dongwoo’s insides, thinking that he had lost his brother. He had already been there. The feelings of lost he felt when Eunji was shot came back to him. 

And suddenly, he knew where Sunggyu must be.


And his wild guess was right. A sight of relief had escaped his lips as soon as he saw the shaking lump next to the gravestone. 

When he had slowly approached the youngest, he heard the soft sobs and sniffs and he knew that he was crying. Sunggyu was probably going through another episode, since he was there. 



“Sunggyu.” he called softly, placing his had on the other’s shoulder as he croushed next to him.


The said boy flinched at the touch and shrugged the hand off. “What are you doing here?” he spat in anger.


“I was looking for you. I was worried sick.”


“No need to act like you care anymore. I’ll be leaving soon anyways.” 


Dongwoo frowned in confusion. “What are you talking about?”



“If it was that hard to look after me, why did you wait this long to throw me away? You should’ve done this since the beginning. Why did you bother with the nice older brother act?” Sunggyu was hurt, he could see it in his eyes. 



“What act are you talking about? Sunggyu I’m doing this for you. You need their help. Please.” he reached for his brother’s hand to only get pushed away again. 



“You’re doing this for yourself, so that you can live peacefully without a burden of a brother like me, that if you actually ever saw me as a brother. And I don’t need their help. At least I know it’s not them who I need.” and with that, Sunggyu started crying again.


“I know that I’m not Eunji, but I thought that at least we could remain as friends, you and I. I could’ve ended my life from a one try you know, but the only thought that held me from doing it was the thought of people around me, even if they’re only by my side out of pity, I still appreciate their help. So instead of jumping off a bridge or slicing my throat, I do other pitiful things in hopes that you would find me and save me. If I just knew that you hated me that much, I –I...” words got stuck in his throat and he came back to being a sobbing mess.



Dongwoo had never seen him that vulnerable, that desperate. It was the first time in that year that Sunggyu had spoken so openly about his feelings to anyone other than his doctor. He was finally able to see how much the youngest was suffering, not just because of his state, not just because he couldn’t sing or because he was away from Eunji, but because he was feeling lonely and unloved. 
And Dongwoo just proved him right by even considering the proposal.



It was time to make the right decision, and the first step was to hug the youngest and tell him what he really thought of him. Something he should've done a year ago.


“You idiot. Is that what you were thinking? That I hated you? Even if you were not my brother, you’d still be one of the dearest to my heart. I’m so sorry if I made you feel otherwise. I was dumb back then. I shouldn’t have taken this decision without your consent. If you don’t want to go, then I won’t force you to.” 


Hopefully, Sunggyu was able to sense the sincerity in Donwgoo’s words, giving him a look full of hope.


“You promise?” 


“I promise. I will stay by your side no matter what, not out of pity, but out of love.”


Magically, after that day, Sunggyu’s condition improved, or at least there was no more suicide attempts. He even accepted Mr Lee’s offer and started writing and composing songs. A big step forward.



Sunggyu didn’t need professional help. He needed his family by his side. His family as in people who believed in him and loved him unconditionally, even if they weren’t blood-related. In his darkest days, when his demons couldn’t leave him alone, a nice family dinner, light useless chatter and carefree smiles were more appreciated than a sedative shot. 

So no matter how his doctors insisted on sending him into an asylum, Dongwoo never wavered. It may be a simple wave of pen for him, but for Sunggyu, it was losing his self-confidence, his family, his purpose in life. It was the same as killing him. 




So even if he lost confidence in his capabilities as a brother, he would never lose hope, nor stop believing in Sunggyu. He was way stronger than a blade or an overdose. He had proven it over the years. Even if he had attempted suicide countless of times, never did he have the intention to die. 


Which brought him to Sunggyu’s current condition. Something felt suspicious.


“I don’t want to discuss that matter anymore. But you said earlier that one of his cuts was deeper than the rest. This had never happened before.” he remarked.


“You’re right. Sunggyu’s cuts are usually superficial. It’s the same this time, but the cause of his excessive bleeding was a certain deep cut on his wrest. Sunggyu hadn’t tried such a thing since his first year. That’s why I’m insisting on him receiving a better treatment...” the doctor went on reasoning Dongwoo to sign the papers but the man wasn’t even listening.


‘If his intention was a real suicide, then the other cuts were useless. Unless...’



Before he could finish his train of thoughts, a call from Sungjong had affirmed his suspicion, but with an unexpected bad news.



“Mrs Kim has escaped last night.”



It was as if bells had rang in his head and he stormed out of the office, running as fast as he could back to Sunggyu’s room.









-







As soon as Eunji finished shoving a quarter of a sandwich down , the quadruplet agreed on escorting her back to Sunggyu’s room.

Eunji was literally dragging herself back there. She hated seeing Sunggyu like that. It was pure torture. But she was anxious as well. 


What was she going to tell Sunggyu when he wakes up? How would he react when he sees her there? Will he ever forgive her? Will she ever forgive herself? Will things go back to how they were four years ago? 


She didn’t want to over think about what the future hid for them but the word alone was scary. All that she hoped for was for Sunggyu to live and be happy, with or without her in his life.


“He’s… not here.” she heard Krystal mumble. 


When she lifted her, she noticed that they were already at their destination, but her friends were frozen at the door step. that’s when she understood what Krystal meant by her words.

 
Eunji pushed through them to be greeted by the empty room, a hospital gown thrown carelessly on the cold bed. 


Before anyone could react, a panting Dongwoo joined them. He was less surprised than them, as he kind of expected this, but he was panicking nevertheless.


“His mother had run away, we need to find him before she does.” 



It was chaos afterwards. Phone calls being made, commands thrown here and there as the five went to search somewhere. Sunggyu was unconscious a mere thirty minutes ago, he wouldn’t have made it far away.


Eunji, still new to the situation, just stood there, looking around the room, helplessly hoping for Sunggyu to pop from under the bed or from inside the closet and surprise. But she knew that it wasn’t the case. 

Sunggyu was somewhere, probably in danger, waiting to be saved.  



A box on the bed caught her attention. There was a photograph inside of it. A photograph she remembered very well. A photograph of a day she remembered very well. A day that meant a lot for her and for Sunggyu.

But she had failed to even save that day as a memory, to cherish it. 

Biting on her lips to distract her aching heart, she went back to investigate the suspicious box. 

The card wasn't enough to make her insides churn but the emptiness of the box was.  

It didn’t require a genius to recognize the gun’s shape left on the thin layer of scrunched sheets covering the bottom of the box. And it didn't require a genius to conclude what things had came to.



Mrs Kim has found him earlier than they had expected. And Sunggyu had run away with a gun.

A gun. 

Happy 1 year anniversary everyone!!! (I'm sure It's still 02/08/2017 somewhere) 

Well, I still can't believe that It's been a whole year since I started this ff and one chapter away from marking it as complete!!! But the most important thing is that I can't believe that some of my dear readers has been with me for a WHOLE YEAR!! Srsly guys, you're the BEST! (And you have the best patience in the world, with my updates speed and all...)

I've never been this committed to anything before. When I started MOTFA I thought that I would only reach 10 chapters at max before going on hiatus or cancelling it. So one year of updates is certainly smthg I should be proud of. Thanks to your encouraging comments and upvotes that I was able to reach this point so THANK YOU SO MUCH *throw confetti and kisses everywhere in every direction*

Like usual, leave a comment if you liked the chapter and I'll see you on the next chapter. Have a good day/night everyone <3